diff --git a/irc.go b/irc.go
index 487a274..56d7c07 100644
--- a/irc.go
+++ b/irc.go
@@ -326,7 +326,8 @@ func (irc *Connection) Reconnect() error {
 // RFC 1459 details: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1459#section-4.1
 func (irc *Connection) Connect(server string) error {
 	irc.Server = server
-	irc.stopped = false
+	// mark Server as stopped since there can be an error during connect
+	irc.stopped = true
 
 	// make sure everything is ready for connection
 	if len(irc.Server) == 0 {
@@ -369,6 +370,8 @@ func (irc *Connection) Connect(server string) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	irc.stopped = false
 	irc.Log.Printf("Connected to %s (%s)\n", irc.Server, irc.socket.RemoteAddr())
 
 	irc.pwrite = make(chan string, 10)
@@ -398,14 +401,15 @@ func IRC(nick, user string) *Connection {
 	}
 
 	irc := &Connection{
-		nick:      nick,
-		user:      user,
-		Log:       log.New(os.Stdout, "", log.LstdFlags),
-		end:       make(chan struct{}),
-		Version:   VERSION,
-		KeepAlive: 4 * time.Minute,
-		Timeout:   1 * time.Minute,
-		PingFreq:  15 * time.Minute,
+		nick:        nick,
+		nickcurrent: nick,
+		user:        user,
+		Log:         log.New(os.Stdout, "", log.LstdFlags),
+		end:         make(chan struct{}),
+		Version:     VERSION,
+		KeepAlive:   4 * time.Minute,
+		Timeout:     1 * time.Minute,
+		PingFreq:    15 * time.Minute,
 	}
 	irc.setupCallbacks()
 	return irc